Wednesday 14 March 2018

Ali Akbar Khan 1974 'Raga Alamgiri & Raga Jogiya-Kalengra'

Here is a 1974 release by Ali Akbar Khan. The cover, I believe, is supposed to be in colour, however mine is in black and white? I have no idea why, but never mind. It kind of feels like a special edition haha... The record is in pretty good condition so some good results. Raga Alamgiri is Ali Akbar Khan's own creation named after his father and Guru Allauddin Khan.

Label: His Master's Voice ‎– EASD 1407

Tracks:
A - Raga Alamgiri (Vilambit & Drut Gat - Teentaal)
B - Raga Jogiya-Kalengra (Vilambat Gat - Teentaal)


Digitised with: Project Essential II Turntable, Ortofon Red Stylus, recorded as WAV 16/48 in Audacity and saved unaltered (apart from track separation/info tags) as WAV 16/48, and then separately edited with: Clickrepair (low settings) then slight reduction on surface noise + normalised to -1.5db in Audacity and exported as WAV 16/48 and MP3 320kbps.

15 comments:

  1. Wonderful! Could you please try ripping in 32 bit FLAC?

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    1. Hi Prasadji.

      I understand that you would like a master file at the highest quality for any future editing. But I believe there is no benefit from recording in 32 bit with my mid-range equipment. I can consider 24bit 96khz, but the unwanted noise introduced from the turntable through RCA output and amplifier (hum and buzz) is quite significant, and separating it from the audio post recording may reduce the music quality anyway. This is why I prefer using the much quieter USB direct transfer which is unfortunately limited to 16bit 48khz (also the left and right channels are balanced perfectly...)

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    2. Hello Kirrin Ji,

      Thanks for the message. I got the logic behind preferring the 16 bit over 32 bit format. Well! Shifting to 24 bit may work. I have a software https://www.izotope.com/en/products/repair-and-edit/rx.html which could drastically take care of the noises. Pl. suggest, if you desire me to help you.

      Thank you again for making the RARE music available to us.

      Regards,

      Prasad

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  2. Great post , superb performances, good clean rip. Thanks again for your hard work it is greatly appreciated.

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  3. Fantastic share Kirrin ! Many thanks for the LP !

    cheers,
    PS.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks PS. I just got a new bunch of some pretty rare LPs, so hoping to post soon. :-)

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    2. Awesome ! You are killing it !

      cheers,
      PS.

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  4. Thanks Kirrin! I'm listening now - about 10 minutes in and have loved every second. Sounds wonderful!

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  5. Kirrin, I'm just finishing up listening to Side 1 of this fantastic Ali Akbar Khan album (cleaned version) 16/48 playing back on reference near-field monitors (Genelec 1040As) and the audio quality is superb IMO.

    Thank you so much for sharing works like these. Between you, Richard, and Tawfiq I'm enjoying a depth of Hindustani Classical music that I never expected would be possible.

    Superb job. Side 2 (playing now) is equally mesmerizing.

    I really appreciate your efforts sharing these treasures!

    Bill

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    1. Hi Bill!

      Thanks for your comment. Hindustani classical is one of those gems where the more you listen, the more you become 'mesmerised'. Although I would say I'm still fairly eclectic, before I started listening to Indian Classical, I became easily bored with many other genres falling in and out of phases... Indian music has however been a steady rock in my life now for several years since I randomly picked up a Ravi Shankar LP in a local record shop.

      The monitors are definitely a great way to get the most out of any music. I recently bought the Yamaha HS7's. I am waiting now to eventually add a sub to get some nice bounce from the Tabla and other drums.

      Kirrin

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    2. Hey Kirrin,

      I too got turned onto Hindustani classical music via a a Ravi Shankar LP. I still remember the album (which I now have in digital form) was The Sound of the Sitar. I liked it so well that I got his Live at the Monterey Pop Festival album upon release. Being circa 1967, I'd have been about 9 years old.

      With my 60th birthday fast approaching, being able to vastly expand the opportunity for my brain and my soul to experience a depth of a music genre that has struck a chord in me from youth is a pure joy!

      While I've had a small Hindustani classical collection over the years and have had the opportunity to see a number of concerts over the decades (including Ravi Shankar 3 times, the last with his daughter Anoushka), my exposure beyond the greats (like Ali Akbar Khan) has been limited.

      So what a pleasure it has been to stumble on the blogs by you, Richard (Flat, Black, and Classical), and Tawfiq.

      I don't need to tell you the pleasure that listening to such music brings to those it hits well. My brain positively lights up when listing to such masters.

      I'm profoundly grateful for your efforts. Your transfers sound great (and I'm listing closely as I'm enveloped in the sound.

      Thank you especially for putting up lossless files.

      Bill



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    3. Oh that's great. I would have loved to see Ravi, but I was a bit late. If you get a chance to read Ravi Shankar's Autobiography 'Raga Mala' - a really nice read with some great historical pics. I did manage to see Anoushka Shankar in Melbourne last week. Although not really classical, a really great performance of the tracks from Land of Gold - some really nice fusion. You're welcome also, thanks for listening! I'm glad I can share these great albums with people who appreciate the music. I don't really know many people that really enjoy or know much about Indian Classical - even my many Indian friends! I guess paradoxically my western comrades hardly listen to western classical... So it's great to have conversations like this here.

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  6. Thanks a lot for all your work Kirrin, the first raga is amazing.

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